Israelites from the land of Egypt. The Babel migration must have taken place millions of years ago while the Exodus was said to have happened around 2,440 years before Christ. There is scientific evidence to show that Eri migrated during the Jewish captivity era in Egypt after which the Exodus took place.
Scientific test of bones discovered by Archeologists in the Anambra Basin reveal that the oldest human bones existed around 5000 years ago. History therefore assumes that Eri and his companions must have settled at Eri-Aka in Aguleri around 5000 years ago. (Omoregie, 1989).
There is a strong proof in the Bible to show that Eri is from the House of Jacob (Gen. 46: 16). The proof will be fully discussed in later pages of this book. Since Eri is from the House of Jacob whose tribe featured in Egypt around 3000 B.C. it stands to reason that Eri’s migration must have taken place during the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt, and not during the Babel movement. Igbo are therefore as old as Eri, the founder of Igbo race.
The Origin of Igbo: Metaphysics To Science, (Onwuejeogu 1987)
According to Professor M. Angulu Onwuejeogu, Professor of Anthropology, University of Benin, “Many scholars have attempted to speculate on the origin of the Igbo. Some have argued that the migration of the Igbo was southwards from some assumed centre in the north. This is generally termed the northern common centre theory. According to this theory, five North centre areas are postulated: namely, the Semitic centre in the Near and Far East, the Hermitic, centre around Egypt and Northern Africa, the West-Saharan Centre, the Chaldia centre and the Nok centre. “I argue that the problem is not so simple.
Here I shall pull other ideas together into the North centre theory. In analyzing origins, two general theories are usually pursued: the theory of permanentism or creationist theory and the theory of evolution.
The theory of permanentism or creationist theory is fully demonstrated from two sources: the traditional ethnometa-physical sources as stored up in the oral tradition of African peoples. The other source of origin is the documented creationist theory in the Bible or Koran or other sacred books. Many Igbo scholars who read the Bible have tried to link up with the lost tribe of Israel. Some argue that Igbo culture has some remarkable similarities with that of ancient Hebrew. On the basis of such similarity the scholars establish common origin and argue that the Igbo broke away and migrated southwards. This is of course a version of the Semitic theory. Using the Bible genealogy of Jesus, from Adam to Jesus...”
The evolutionary theory seems to have a scientific edge over the creationist theory which is based on metaphysical speculation and faith. The logic of evolution is attested through several empirical observations and analysis of fossil and artifacts accidentally found or archaeologically excavated the distribution of such finds, their diffusion and relationship with other finds and the possibility of dating the finds with techniques such as relative stratigraphy, potassium argon, carbon 14, uranium helium and dendrochronology. Where possible these dating systems are correlated with the solar or lunar dating system like the type based on the Christian and Muslim calendars respectively.
I wish to emphasize that the evolutionary history of Igbo culture and civilizations can only be fully understood in the context of the cultures and civilizations of the African continent. For the early beginnings of man’s existence in the theatre of Igboland, we rely on archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic evidences of man’s activities in Igboland.
Four of the archaeological finds in Igboland become very relevant: the Ugwuele, Afikpo, Nsukka and Igbo-Ukwu. These four sites have produced abundant and irrevocable evidence of the fact that at least between 100, 000 B.C and 5000 B.C man has started his cultural drama in what I refer to as the theatre of Igboland. The problem is: are they Igbo as we know them today? Professor Onwuejeogu sought to answer to this question by applying the anthropological-linguistic evidence based on grotto chronology, which puts the date of the emergence of Igbo Language from the Proto-Niger languages of about 6000 B.C., and lexicostatistics, which suggests the relative degree of difference of verities of Igbo languages spoken today. He went on to say that using grotto chronology one can say that by 6000 B.C. the Igbo man had emerged ready to be transformed to what is today.
Archaeological Evidence
Professor Onwuejeogu said that archaeological evidence shows that the Igbo man of today has undergone cultural evolution transformations from the African late Stone Age through the Neolithic and Metal Age to contemporary Modern time. In discussing the four archaeological finds in Igboland mentioned above, he quoted Anozie 1981 as analyzing the Ugwuele culture as being dominantly a handaxe culture which can only be understood within the context of the evolution of man, the tool maker in Africa. He further said: According to geographers and geologists most of Africa was once the heart of a vast super-continent called Gondwana Land. About 250 million years ago much of this super-continent was glaciated. During the Cretaceous Period (about 200 million years ago) Gondwana Land started to break apart, and the continent began to take its present shape; and the African coast came into existence. More recent geological activity occurred creating the basic topographic division of high and low Africa. This is evident in the major river basins in the continent; namely, Niger Basin, the Chad Basin, the Congo Basin, the Nile Basin and the Zambezi-Kalahari (Basin Stamp 1976; Kimble 1962).
Life form began to evolve on parts of the earth which were favourable. According to Paleontologists, by the Palaeocene Era, 63 million years ago, the primates had begun to evolve from some unknown insectivores, and by the Pilocene, between one million and thirteen million years ago, the first proto-man (more ape-like than man-like) had appeared.
From all existing evidence, it appears that man’s ancestor first became differentiated from the Primates in Africa. Recent archaeological finds in Omo Valley of Ethiopia suggest that this occurred at least 3 million years ago. Evidence from the wooden savannah areas of East Africa puts homo sapiens, the forerunner of present man, at about two million years ago. Homo sapiens are all that remains of the Hominid time today. Multineal evolutionary process had taken place producing the earliest Hominids which died away because they were overspecialized. The less specialized ones evolved into Homo sapiens. Some of African hominids are as follows (Howell 1955, Graham 1955, Leakey, 1967 and 1971)
(i)Australopithecus africanus – very early hominid which probably were omnivorous. They were small, lightly built and adapted to open country. They possibly were tools users.
(ii)Australopithecus robustus: These were larger and robust and very ape-like. They were probably vegetarians and adapted to forest environment.
(iii)Zinjanthropus: This is another form of robustus that flourished in East Africa.
(iv)Homo habalis (found by Leakey in Olduvai George in Tanzania) existed side by side with Zinjanthropus nearly two million years ago and was probably the earliest tool maker.
(v)Homo erectus: This was represented by Pithecanthropus and existed around 500, 000 years ago in Africa. They evolved the Acheulian hand-ace culture near lakeshores and rivers. Some of their remains were found in Algeria, Morocco, Chad, Tanzania, Indonesia and China. The Asian examples were younger. Homo erectus gave rise to many offspring’s such as Rhodesia man, (a Neanderthal type) and to Homo sapiens around 35, 000 years ago
Having discussed the early material culture in Africa let us look at the earliest human society.
Garden of Eden
Hominid evolution took over 3 million years. Early forms have been found in China, conclusion all existing evidence points to the conclusion that Africa particularly, East Africa, was the major centre of the physical and technological development of man. East Africa was the Garden of Eden of mankind and from there, the spread started.
